1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to material spreaders used for spreading a particulate, such as salt, sand, or salt and sand mixtures and, more particularly to a bed mounted spreader having an improved cab-forward design. It should be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the spreader of the present invention can be used to spread dry material as well as wet material.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventional truck bed mounted spreader assemblies typically have a large hopper that is placed in a truck bed of a vehicle. The hopper carries a material, such as bulk salt, to be distributed behind the vehicle. To maximize storage capacity, the hopper typically extends along the length of the truck bed between a front end and a rear end. The rear end of the hopper defines an outlet for discharging material from the hopper. An auger or similar device is disposed within the hopper to convey the material towards the outlet. A spinner assembly is typically mounted to the hopper adjacent the outlet for receiving the material as it exits the outlet and spreading it out on the roadway. To ensure that the material is evenly spread onto the roadway, the spinner is located just aft of the rear most portion of the truck bed such that the rear end of the hopper is substantially aligned with the rear most portion of the truck bed. One such related art spreader is shown in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/161,144 to Sandler et al., which shows a spreader assembly having a hopper having a rear end substantially aligned with the rear most portion of the truck bed and an auger running the length of the truck bed delivering material to a hopper mounted spinner assembly.
Conventional truck bed mounted spreaders are typically heavy, formed of thick sheet metals that are able to withstand corrosive environments that can be encountered when spreading certain materials, such as bulk salt. In addition to the weight of the spreader assembly, many hundreds of pounds of material is typically loaded into the hopper for spreading. Thus a problem arises in that conventional truck bed mounted spreaders place a substantial amount of weight on the rear most portion of the truck bed, thereby severely upsetting the weight distribution of the vehicle. This creates poor vehicle handling characteristics and places the vehicle chassis and suspension under considerable stress. What is needed is a truck bed mounted spreader assembly that distributes the weight of the assembly towards the center of the vehicle.